The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Astilbe plant, botanically known as Astilbe simplicifolia, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Pink Jewel’.
The new Astilbe is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Lijnden, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new fast-growing and compact Astilbe cultivars.
The new Astilbe originated from a chance pollination of two unknown Astilbe simplicifolia selections in 1996. The new Astilbe was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant originating from a group of open-pollinated crosses made in a controlled environment in Lijnden, The Netherlands in 1999 on the basis of its arching inflorescences and light red purple-colored flowers.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by root divisions since 2000 in Lijnden, The Netherlands, has shown that the unique features of this new Astilbe are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.